Paradise
by The Final Keychain Bearer
Summary: To give up means to die. But to continue fighting isn't much better. When the world has gone to Hell, what do you have left to lose? The only salvation is in Paradise.
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: For starters, I really have no idea how this story is going to take shape. I love playing zombie games, so I figured it was time for me to start thinking about a zombie story possibly based off of the Dead Island game, at least in the geographical sense. As far as Dead Island's main story goes, I doubt I will stick much to it since I didn't entirely enjoy it anyway. This is the beginning, and it would help to get some reviews first so I know whether or not to continue it. Of course, I don't own anything from Dead Island, just the plot of this story and its characters.**

**This story also contains strong language, so beware O_O.**

**Prologue**

When the world has gone to hell...do you go with it?

If you had asked me that question when all this...shit began, I probably would have answered no. That would mean giving up your will to live, and letting the people you care about most die. I'll tell you right now, I fought, and so did the others. Turns out all we did was prolong the inevitable. These damn things just keep coming. Just when you thought you killed them all off, more show up, or one of your own succumbs to the Infection.

The Infection? Oh yeah, guess I got a little ahead of myself on that point. For now, just think of it as another type of Apocolyspe. For me, thats exactly what it was, the end of the fucking world as I knew it. I am by no means a saint, but no one should have to experience the things i have in the past 48 hours. When it comes right down to it, not much time has passed since the Outbreak. Two days ago, i was with the boys, getting wasted after a somewhat annoying week at work. We all decided to take a much needed vacation from our jobs before we ended up on the news for offing our bosses or lighting up our cubicles or something. We were all married, and most people took their families with them for vacations such as ours. It took alot of convincing, promising, and almost begging on our part to leave them at home this one time so just the boys could have some fun for a change.

In retrospect, that was the best god damn decision any of us have made in our lives.

If you were to ask me that same question now, I honestly could not answer you. At times, it feels as if a huge burden would be lifted from our shoulders if we just gave up and died. But then again, we wouldnt really die would we? We would just turn into those...monsters. We would continue to "live" off the flesh of the living, not caring who they were. The very thought of us feasting on people's loved ones, maybe even our own, is enough to make us want to live just a little while longer.

We want to live, to return to our loved ones. But, the fight can only last so long. There are so few of us, and so many of them. If help is coming, it wont reach us in time. Hell, even if help was coming they probably wouldnt last long enough anyway. How we have is nothing short of a miracle. I'm sure word of what has happened has gotten out already, whether or not its the truth i honestly couldnt give a damn. When the world looks back on this moment in time and thinks some type of plague broke out and everyone just died quietly, YOU will know better, YOU will know the truth. What you do with the truth is up to you. If you decide to go public with it, your life may very well be forfeit. If you decide to keep it to yourself, well i couldnt blame you. It helps enough that at least one person knows what happened, to know that we havent stepped into the pits of hell itself completely alone, wondering if it was all some type of horrible nightmare. This is our story, but be warned:

This is not the first time it has happened.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: The Beginning**

When you think something is the truth, usually its the farthest thing from it. When you know something is wrong, it could very well be the key to everything. History is written by the victors and truly understood by the losers. When there are no more losers to expose the lies for what they really are, then the lies become the truth, and cannot be refuted. We discovered the truth for ourselves, and were punished for seeing through the lies.

I'll attempt to describe the beginning, but to be honest no one truly knows how it began. One night John, Michael, and myself were partying the night away in the hotel resort of Banoi, a virtual paradise for any and all who just want to let go of it all, for a short time at least. The morning after, we were fighting for our lives. I'm positive our drinks were spiked at some point, so what exactly happened isn't clear. We have been able to agree on bits and pieces that we all remember, such as a commotion on the ground floor of the hotel that night. The three of us were stumbling about trying to get to our rooms when a lady screamed with such intensity that we heard it clearly from the second floor. Emboldened by our drunken curiosity, we decided to investigate the incident. We practically fell through the elevator doors that led to the lobby, and couldn't quite understand the scene before us.

There was a lady on the floor, presumably the one we heard scream, drowning in her own blood. As if that sight wasn't shocking enough, there was more. Not only was she drowning in her own blood, but someone seemed to be chomping on her neck. There were no special effects, and even through our drunken haze we could tell there was something seriously wrong. The person, who might have been another woman, didnt even notice us and continued to eat her way through the lady's neck. I took a step forward, prepared to ask her a question, but someone else beat me to it.

"Dear God! What the hell is going on here!" a man yelled as he came in through the front entrance of the hotel. It was all it took. The sound of his voice roused the lady from her feast, and the look on her face was of pure hunger. She lunged from her spot about ten feet away, and was upon the man in an instant. He didnt even have time to scream before she ripped his throat out with her teeth.

This was our exposure to the Infection, and it wouldnt be the last. It didnt take much to convince us that if we made the slightest sound, we were dead men walking. We slipped our way back into the elevator as quietly as we could. We would have been home free if we hadn't been so damn drunk. Just as John and I took the final steps into the elevator, Michael missed his footing and fell face first just a few steps away from the elevator with a loud bang. We all froze, and slowly looked toward the man-eating woman. She had stopped eating, and her gaze was fixed directly on us. In the second it took to blink, she was already halfway across the lobby.

"Close the fucking door!" Michael yelled as he jumped to his feet and sprinted toward the elevator doors. I had already pressed the button and the doors were just about to close when he vaulted through the opening. The doors slammed shut, and the lady smashed into them with such force that they actually dented and shook the elevator. I jammed the button for the 5th floor, where our room was, and collapsed on the floor. My heart was pounding, and I could swear I could hear John and Michael's hearts as well.

"So...anyone want to tell me what the hell just happened? I know I've had a few, but it looked like that psycho bitch tore out that dude's throat with her _teeth_." John said.

"You saw right. I swear I could feel her breath on my neck right before I jumped in here" Michael said, who looked extremely shaken. Couldn't blame him really. "What do you think that was Luke?"

"You think I would know? Im still seeing three of you right now, and you expect me to know if what we just saw was real? I'd rather think a unicorn dancing with a fucking leprechaun was more believable than some chick eating out a guys throat." I snapped, not really meaning to be mean, but I was scared out of my mind. He seemed to understand though, and let it be. "I just want to go to bed, we'll see what happens in the morning alright?"

They both nodded in agreement, and when the doors opened we walked to our room. After taking three very long showers, we said our good nights and went to bed.

What we woke up to in the morning shook the foundations of everything we ever believed in, and destroyed the rest.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Understanding**

You have to get up pretty early in the morning in order to fool me. If you told me the world was ending tomorrow, I would laugh it off and call you insane. Of course that was before, if you told me the world was ending now, I'd start screaming my head off and barricade myself in my room. Ideally, that's what we all should have done after experiencing what we did last night, but of course being under the influence doesn't bring out the best decisions in people.

I awoke in a certain haze followed by an incredible pounding in my head that only hangovers can provide. I got up and practically smashed my face into the sink of the bathroom and splashed some cold water on my face. I checked the other rooms to see Michael and John still sleeping, then I opened up the mini fridge the hotel provides in every room to munch on something. At the thought of food, I had a sudden flashback of last night's events and wanted nothing more than to toss the fridge out the window. Steel bolted screws prevented me from doing that, so instead I walked over and opened the door to the balcony for some fresh air.

The overwhelming scent of rotting flesh could have blasted me right off the balcony had it been any stronger. I staggered forward onto the railings and looked at the sight in front of me.

Fire. Fire everywhere, smoke in all directions. Even from a distance, all the cities and towns in sight looked destroyed beyond repair. How the hell did all of this happen in just a few short hours of sleep? The realization that the world may very well be ending sucker punched me in the stomach, and then I really did throw up what little there was over the railing.

"Oh God what is that smell?" I heard John say from his room. Michael wasn't far behind and both of them came to the balcony and stared at the destruction beyond.

"Oh shit, is this really happening? No no no no no dear God no..." Michael muttered, clearly terrified out of his mind. John had gone very pale at the sight of the fires. I vaguely remember him mentioning some incident during his childhood relating to fires that nearly killed him.

"So...what we saw last night was real wasn't it?" John asked quietly. I could only nod my head, still too shaken by what was in front of us. "Well, what do we do now?"

"Jesus man, what we should do is lock the door and never see sunlight again. I don't fancy getting my face chomped on by that psycho bitch from last night" Michael said, already in the process of moving the furniture toward the door.

"Wait...wait!" I said, getting my wits about me again. "What we need to do first is think. Clearly something is happening and we don't have the slightest clue as to what. We need information, and the only way to get it is to go outside and find someone who has it."

There was a moment of silence, and then Michael started going on about the many things wrong with that plan. The most prominent flaw he felt the need to keep repeating was that we could end up on a table with an apple in each of our mouths for some cannibalistic family of mutant zombies. After a little while he just curled up into a ball and started muttering to himself, unable to go on ranting about the lunacy of my plan.

"Well, we know his view on the plan, what about you John?" I asked, unsure as to where he stood on the matter. Michael was always the so called chicken of our group, but I never expected him to break like this so easily. John on the other hand was the opposite. Aside from myself, he was the most level headed person I knew. If the weight of the world were suddenly thrust onto his shoulders, he would find a way to bear it and continue on.

"Needless to say I pretty much shit my pants earlier, but even that doesn't block out the smell outside" he said in an attempt to lighten the mood.

At any other time, in any other place during any other event, I would have laughed. But at this moment I almost wanted to take a swing at him. I didn't have time for irrational thoughts, so I pushed the feeling aside and waited for his answer.

"I guess I'm with you then, I don't think I can stand just sitting here waiting for help, if it ever comes that is" John said grimly. Always the optimist.

"Alright its two against one, so Michael get your ass up and pack some bags. We should leave soon before it gets dark." Michael glanced up at me, his eyes looking somewhat saner than before now that he had a task to complete. He slowly got up and left the room, and I heard him opening up our drawers and stuffing our belongings into the backpacks we brought with us.

An hour passed in silence. Michael got all the clothes we could carry between the three of us. John searched the rooms for some potential weapons we could use and found some knives in the small kitchen. Not very long ones, but enough to make someone think twice about attacking us, provided they weren't some blood thirsty, mindless zombie of course. I raided the mini fridge and packed what little food there was in a cooler. There was a six pack of Pepsi soda, few water bottles, couple of cereal bars and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Not entirely sure why that wasn't in the bathroom, but who can focus on such little details?

"Well, I think that's about everything we can carry. John, Michael, you ready for this?" I asked nervously. They both nodded, looking as scared as I felt. I grabbed hold of the door to the hallway and opened it slightly. I listened just in case any...surprises laid in wait for us. I didn't hear anything, so I opened the door fully and stepped outside.

There was blood everywhere. On the walls, the floor, even the damned ceiling. I think the scariest part of it though was the fact that there were no bodies in sight.

"Well its official. We slept through the freaking apocalypse." I said, resisting the urge to bolt through the hallway and jump out the window at the end of it, which upon closer inspection someone already managed to do. Michael went completely white and John tried to avert his eyes, but the blood was everywhere.

We headed toward the elevator, hoping it still worked. The hallway was devoid of any lighting, and I don't remember seeing any of the digital clocks turned on in our room. I pressed the button, but there was no sign that it was working. I decided to try and pry open the doors to see where the elevator was and if anyone might be trapped inside. I saw that it wasn't too far below, maybe a good ten feet or so.

"Hold onto my stuff will you? I'm going to see if anyone is stuck inside there" I said as I handed my stuff to Michael, who kept shaking his head. John said he was going to go tie some bed sheets together so he could haul me up in case I couldn't get back up (I should hit the gym more). He left and I grabbed onto the wires connected to the elevator and slowly slid my way down. I landed on it with a light thump, and searched for the top emergency exit latch. I found it, but before I could lift it there was a loud crash underneath me and the elevator shook. I looked up to see Michael looking just as confused as I was, and he urged me to come back up to safety.

I shook my head at him, and slowly reached for the latch again. I unlocked the bolt and lifted it up. The inside of the elevator was splattered with gore with several bodies lying on the floor. Some were staring blankly at the ceiling; others were missing their faces entirely. Before I could properly react, a hand reached out and grabbed my arm. I jerked back on reflex, and practically pulled someone out the top of the latch. It was the woman from last night, blood and gore spattered on every inch of her. Up close, she looked like a possessed demon straight out of hell. There was no trace of humanity in her eyes, they were completely devoid of emotion and filled with unearthly bloodlust. She started snarling at me as I continued to yank my arm away from her.

"Jesus Christ! John hurry up with those sheets!" I heard Michael yell from above me.

I had a flash of insight and called up to him, "Michael, toss me a knife damn it!" Shortly after, a knife clanked right next to me, nearly lodging itself into my skull. I grabbed it and started hacking away at the arm that was holding onto me. It was decayed enough for it to give away easier than a normal arm, but it still took more than enough effort. The lady screamed at me in rage as she fell into the elevator again, missing one of her arms. Just then a rope of bed sheets fell into the elevator and I scrambled up them to the others.

"Jesus...remind me not to climb down dark elevator shafts next time" I gasped, a little out of breath from the climb and the encounter.

"No problem. I'll climb down next time and you can take the creepy dark well instead" John said, a slight smile on his lips. I grinned back at him, but froze when I heard the wail of agony and rage below us. It made the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and I had the weird feeling that she was...calling out to something.

With that feeling, I slowly looked up and nearly jumped out of my skin. I saw more...people crawling _down_ the shaft towards us, all of their eyes locked on us in hunger. John and Michael followed my gaze, then they both hauled me to my feet and we all took off down the hallway at top speed. I chanced a look behind me only to see three people jump into the hallway and chase us on all fours.

"Our only chance is the window! Jump for it!" I screamed.

"Are you out of your mind? We won't make it!" Michael screamed back.

"What's worse? Getting eaten alive or smashing your head on the pavement?" John yelled at him. He was faster than the rest of us, so he made it to the window first. He jumped through it without a second thought and disappeared from sight.

"Oh god I can't do this!" Michael yelled, slowing down slightly. I couldn't live with myself if I left him in that hallway to die by those monsters. He was in front of me, right by the window. So what do I do instead of leaving one of my best friends to die by flesh eating monsters?

I push him out the window, and I jump out right behind him, screaming the entire way.


	4. Chapter 3

**Authors note: I had the trollish thought of ending the story with the previous chapter, but lately I've had a major urge to continue this story along with my other incompletes. Someday I will finish all of my current stories and not feel like an idiot when I start a new one :D.**

**Chapter Three: Chance**

Whoever thought jumping out of a five story window was a good idea clearly hadn't experienced it first hand, or if they did they didn't live long enough to tell the tale.

We had managed to escape immediate death by zombies, only to be faced with death by gravity. By some act of godly architectural planning, the window was directly above the hotel's pool. So instead of dying a horrible death by smashing our faces into the ground from five stories up, we smashed into the water (which still hurt like hell).

Even though the impact with the ground had been significantly reduced due to the water, my momentum still carried me straight to the bottom of the pool and slammed me into the floor. The wind was knocked from my lungs and I began to drown in the pool. In light of recent events, it certainly wasn't a bad way to go.

But of course I wasn't so lucky; John appeared and hauled me to the surface. As much as I enjoy breathing air, it burned the crap out of my lungs as I threw up the water I had swallowed. Michael wasn't in much better condition; he was bent over not too far away, throwing up the last amount of water he had swallowed as well.

After the two of us were done practicing our one hit single, I went over to where John was sitting on a nearby chair. For some reason I noticed the sound of helicopter rotors somewhere off in the distance.

"Not really sure if this is much better at this point, but thanks for hauling me out the water" I said.

"No problem. Didn't expect the freaking pool to be below us, so I can't say I was glad to be there to do so. What now?" he asked.

"Hell if I know, after what we just went through, my earlier plan doesn't seem too bright anymore" I said as I offered my hand to him. He grabbed it and hauled himself up. "But with nothing better to do, we should head towards the city and-" Michael slammed into me just as a body fell right on the spot I was standing in. John reacted a second later and rolled out the way as a second body nearly fell on top of him. We looked to the sky to see a hail of bodies hurling themselves out the window we had jumped out of and just falling to the ground. The sickening crunch of bone hitting the floor was enough to drive you insane.

But that wasn't the worst of it.

Some of the bodies had fallen headfirst and their skulls had splattered across the floor. Others had just smacked into the floor and from the sound of it shattered every bone in their body. But that didn't stop them. Some of the bodies began twitching; some even started to crawl their way towards us. There wasn't even time to stare in horror, as more of them appeared from the bushes, apparently drawn by the bone crushing sounds of bodies hitting the floor just before.

For the third time in the past twenty four hours, we had to run for our lives. But this time we weren't so lucky. As we turned around to run, more zombies had flanked us somehow, so now we were surrounded. The only place we could go was against the hotel wall.

"So, this is where it ends huh? I already lived longer than I thought I would at least" John said, looking terrified but at the same time resigned to his fate. Michael was somehow continuing to turn whiter and whiter. I was still stuck in the thought process that none of this could be real and that I should be waking up any moment now in bed with my wife next to me.

Wait a minute…my wife.

I opened my backpack and took out one of the small kitchen knives John had found earlier and positioned myself in a defensive stance. John and Michael looked at me with confusion.

"Sorry guys, I don't plan on dying just yet. I mean my wife would kill me if I died here, and I can't be having that now right?" I said with a grin, waiting for the horde to attack. As it turns out, I wasn't the only one with a god fearing terror of his wife. John and Michael had my back, both wielding their short knives as well. We've known each other for a while now, and we know just how scary each of our wives can be.

And that's why we love them, and why we will fight to see them one last time.

As it turns out, we didn't have to fight.

The sound of helicopter rotors grew to a screeching intensity, the result of a news helicopter crashing into the ground and careening through the bushes, literally obliterating the horde of zombies that were cornering us. To say we were dumbfounded was the biggest understatement of the century. We somehow retained enough self-awareness to know that this was our one and only chance to escape, but to do so we had to rush over the smoking wreckage of the helicopter.

Gas from the helicopter was beginning to leak onto the ground, and the initial crash had set the surrounding area on fire, meaning it was now or never.

"Come on!" I yelled, and made a run for the wreckage. John and Michael were right behind me. I don't know how many of these damn things there are but I swear they just keep coming. More zombies had appeared, and they were _fast_. Just like the woman from last night, their speed was close to supernatural as they ran and leaped their way towards us from all areas. The only clear area was the wreckage, and on the other side were more bushes, hiding the unknown. If nothing else, we could prolong our end just a bit longer.

I went first, leaping over the helicopter as the fire began to spread rapidly. As I flew over the wreckage, I caught a glimpse inside. There were three people inside, all dead. It seemed as if it was a family of sorts. The worst part…there was a child inside.

And she was looking directly at me with hunger in her eyes.

There was no time to reflect as I landed on the other side and nearly fell off a damn cliff. I had forgotten that the resort was built on one of the highest points of the island, which of course happened to be right next to a cliff. John went soaring over the wreckage with Michael practically hanging onto his heels. John hadn't known about the cliff, and with his strength powered by his fear and Michael breathing down his neck, they had jumped too far, right over the edge of the cliff. John didn't yell, Michael didn't seem to register the fact in time before it was too late. I watched as two of my best friends in the world were about to fall to their deaths, and there was nothing I could do to stop it.

I decided to change that.

I leaped forward towards the edge; John seemed to know what I had in mind as he spun around in midair and grabbed Michael's arm. The momentum of the jump had put Michael into a dive with John in front of him. Right before they completely cleared the cliff face, I grabbed onto Michael's legs and managed to hold on. I looked to the left to see that there was a small ledge long enough to give John solid enough ground to haul himself back up. But the only way to get him there was to swing the two of them back and forth until he could reach it.

"Hold on!" I yelled as I began to swing them back and forth.

"No shit hold on!" John and Michael yelled in unison. John was able to grab onto the ledge and haul himself up, then proceeded to help me with Michael. The three of us laid there for a few seconds to catch our breath, the exhaustion and sheer terror of what almost happened beginning to register.

We helped each other up and after staring at each other for a bit, started laughing like there was no tomorrow, which for all we know there wouldn't be. After all that had happened, the zombie in the lobby, the incident in the elevator shaft, the desperate jump out of a five story window, the miraculous fall into the pool below, the even more miraculous helicopter crash that cleared a path for us, and the save from certain death by yours truly, we were all still alive. How long that would last, we couldn't know for sure, but we were alive now and that's all that mattered.

As it turns out, you shouldn't give the universe lines like that.

The explosion blew us off the cliff, and we fell to our deaths for a second time today.


	5. Chapter 4

**Author's note: After reading a recent reviewer's own take on Dead Island, I was able to pull out a few ideas from my head to continue where the previous chapter left off, which before I really had no clue how to do. Should recognize a person or two from now on.**

**Chapter Four: Encounter**

We either have the luck of an angel or the misfortune of a demon. Either way, it ends up biting us in the ass. Not literally, but pretty damn close. To tell you how we survived the fall would be a miracle in itself considering how we haven't the slightest clue. The only thing we remember was our near insane laughter from recent events, then the explosion followed by blackness. Somehow, we had survived. For now at least.

If you stopped to put the pieces together, the best explanation is that after the explosion that sent us off the cliff, we had landed in the ocean below and managed to stay adrift long enough to return to the shores of Banoi. You would think after all we had been through in just a few short hours, we were entitled to some rest.

But only the dead can rest, at least they used to.

The first thing I became aware of was the sound of waves hitting the beach we were currently KO'd on, followed by the freezing touch of the water. As if freezing my twins below wasn't bad enough, I had an incredible headache.

"What the fuck…freezing water, explosions, hundred foot drops, and the walking dead are bad enough, but now I have a headache." I muttered as I slowly attempted to raise my body to get a look around. Whether or not my priorities were misguided is debatable. I saw that John and Michael were not too far off from me and by some miracle were still breathing. To make things even brighter, we all still had our backpacks of supplies still strapped to our backs. I made another quick survey around to make sure we were alone, unzipped my backpack and brought out one of the cereal bars we had taken from our room. After taking a few bites of one of the greatest things, in my current opinion at least, that had ever been made for portable dining, my luck got even better.

The sound of a gun cocking right behind my head made me freeze instantly.

At least it wasn't a zombie right?

"Turn around slowly so I can see your face" a deep, unfamiliar voice commanded.

With nothing better to do with my time, I slowly turned around to face my would be murderer if I wasn't careful. He was a dark skinned man, short black hair with a tattoo of sorts around his right eye. He was also sporting a lifeguard uniform, and of course the revolver he had pointed at my eye socket. If the guy hadn't been holding a gun to my face I would have jumped up and hugged the bastard. With a random spark of insanity, and really nothing better to say, I asked "What's up doc?"

To say he was dumbfounded would have been hilarious. His jaw literally dropped as he lowered his gun, and he even started chuckling a bit before putting his hand out to help me up. "Well I'll be damned; thought you were one of them for a minute by how much you were going at that bar there."

I grabbed his hand and he hauled me up. "Death defying stunts and life threatening situations make a guy hungry" I said with a completely straight face. To my surprise, he took me quite seriously.

"I bet. The names Sinamoi by the way" he said.

"Luke. Uh, it's not like I'm not happy to see another human being whose sole purpose isn't to munch my face off or anything, but what the hell are you doing here Sinamoi"? I asked. We were pretty much in the middle of nowhere on the beach.

"I was scouting the area for some supplies for the Pool House and saw you had a backpack on. Figured I would blow your head off and take the bag. Lucky I didn't eh?" he said.

"Yeah…wait the Pool House? You mean there are more survivors"? I asked, pretty elated at the idea. We hadn't seen anyone since last night's event in the lobby and so forth. Normal people that is.

"Of course. You didn't think you were unfortunate enough to be the only survivor right"? he asked as he slapped me on the back chuckling a bit. "There's a small group I managed to herd together in the Pool House, we barricaded it well enough so those monsters can't get inside and every now and then one of us goes out to scout for supplies".

"You have no idea how happy that makes us Sinamoi…it's been one shitty surprise after another" I said. I could have jumped up in joy at hearing that not only were there more survivors, but even a well-protected shelter as well.

"Who's we? Have some imaginary friends you need to tell me about? As long as they aren't telling you to gut me I won't judge" he said, somewhat seriously. Couldn't blame him really, you have no idea what a zombie apocalypse could do to your mind.

"Shit that's right, completely forgot about John and Michael, they are over there-" I would have continued, but I was too horrified by what I was seeing.

Those fucking monsters had somehow snuck up on us and started dragging John and Michael away. Sinamoi was a beat slower as I rushed toward them, picking up an oar on the way. Before the zombies had time to react, I had already smashed the one dragging John in the head hard enough to crack its skull open. As the contents of his head splattered onto his partner, the other zombie seemed to notice that I was the odd one out and let out an ear splitting scream as it leaped towards my throat. Even if I had been fast enough to counter it, my oar had shattered after hitting the other zombie and I was defenseless.

It's amazing what a single bullet can do in the right hands.

Sinamoi appeared from my side, jabbed his gun into the side of the zombie's head and pulled the trigger. Needless to say that was the end of that. Before I even had time to kiss his feet for saving me he yelled at me "Are they bitten!?" He had a crazy look in his eyes as he asked me. After searching them from head to toe I shook my head. His shoulders practically sagged with relief. "Thank god".

"Why does it matter if they were bitten" I asked ignorantly.

He kind of looked surprised at the question. "If you are bitten, you turn into one of them not long after. Whatever it is that caused this somehow spreads through your body at an incredible rate. If you are bitten and have people around you, it's best to put one through your head before you turn everyone around you as well" he said as if from personal experience.

"What the hell? So there's some type of fucking plague going around that turns you into a flesh eating monster"? At least there was some illogical logical explanation as to why exactly everything went to shit overnight. My first thought was that the government (conspiracy nut alert) was trying some new weapon of sorts and it had gotten out of control. I decided to think about my friends first before thinking about world ending government conspiracies at this point.

As if on cue, John and Michael started groaning and slowly became aware of their surroundings.

"You guys ok"? I asked.

"I'm wet, cold, and it feels like a screwdriver drilled through my head and had some type of orgy with a bunch of bigger screwdrivers. The fact that they were black is just a coincidence" Michael said. He has the most…vivid imagination of the three of us, and John and I still aren't sure if he's secretly a racist or not. John just put his thumb up and groaned some more. A man of many words he is.

"Odd bunch you got here Luke" Sinamoi said with a smile on his face. We helped them up and he introduced himself. I also filled them in on the Pool House, their near abduction by zombies, and what happens if you get bitten by one.

"Well of course, everyone knows if you get bit by a zombie you turn into one" John said as if he had known that fact his entire life. Michael was nodding his head in agreement. I had the sneaking suspicion that Sinamoi was trying very hard to hide his grin behind me. My ignorance knows no bounds it seems.

"Now that the introductions are over, you guys mind explaining to me why the hell you were taking a nap in the middle of the beach during the apocalypse"? Sinamoi asked.

We filled him in on the events of last night, our sleep of the dead as the world went to hell and what happened after we had decided to search for survivors. He listened to the whole story and when we were done he whistled. "You boys got some grapefruit sized balls alright, with luck to match" he said with an impressed tone. It also looked as if he had noticed something important, but decided not to say anything. "As it turns out, you guys might be able to help us with something I've been cooking up. As great a haven as the Pool House sounds, it's not enough. Its small and we are running out of supplies fast. We were forced to start moving everyone up to the Lifeguard station up on the hill behind us. It's a slow process since the way inside is pretty much blocked off by these damn monsters. As if that wasn't bad enough, half the station is overrun by more of them we need someone to clear them out".

Joy, my lifetime dream of zombie slaying was coming true in the worst ways possible. I looked over at John and Michael. They didn't really seem to be bent on the idea of facing more of those monsters, but it was the only way to secure not only our own safety but the safety of the people at the Pool House as well. They nodded their agreement and I looked over at Sinamoi. "Since all the professional zombie slayers are booked solid, you get to settle for us" I told him. He smiled and started following the coastline.

"Great to hear. Follow me and I'll bring you to the Pool House and introduce you to everyone, then you guys can rest up a bit before we head to the station" he said.

"Not exactly how I planned on getting my workout during our vacation but alright" John said.

"If you haven't shaped up a bit since last night then there's really no hope for you" Michael said as he poked the small amount of fat on John's stomach.

"Come on guys focus on the real situation here, I didn't see any of you bring sunscreen which means I'm gonna roast like a turkey out here." I said. Sinamoi let out a huge laugh as John and Michael looked me over.

"Better taste like a damn turkey to, I'm hungry" they both said at the same time. After everything that had happened and the possible mental repercussions if we survived long enough, it was best to joke now to keep our sanity long enough to go insane later.

"You guys certainly are something. Helps to have people to talk with, keeps your mind together" he said. He almost sounded sad about it.

I decided to change the subject a bit. "You guys have any weapons stored at the Pool House? We only have a few small kitchen knives we found in our room, and of course there's your nifty gun there".

"Of course. We wouldn't have survived this long without them. The only problem is, after enough use they start to break down and we have to repair them with just about anything we can find or just toss them. A few more weapons and people to wield them will be a great addition to our arsenal" he said.

We found ourselves coming closer and closer to the Pool House, which had come into view as he was talking. From this distance, it looked like a small shack if nothing else with all the windows boarded up. There were a few blood smears on the sides and on the sand, but otherwise looked virtually unscathed.

Sinamoi walked right up to the front as if he owned the place and knocked on the front door five times. Four knocks immediately followed from the other side and Sinamoi knocked one last time. After that, the sounds of heavy bars being lifted could be heard from the other side. A man opened the door with a heavy axe right at his side as he looked out at us. He had the same skin color as Sinamoi, and of all things he was wearing what looked like a cowboy hat.

"Sinamoi, where the fuck have you been? And who are these guys? Forget it, we need to talk" the man said. I guess proper manners escape some people these days.

"Nice to see you to James. Boys, this is James Stein. He scouts the Lifeguard station I mentioned earlier" Sinamoi explained.

"But I thought you said the place was overrun by zombies?" John asked.

"It is for the most part. I've been running the station for most of my life, so I know a few ways in and out that won't attract much attention. Enough about that though, I need your opinion on something Sinamoi" James said as we walked inside. "The last few survivors we had here went out searching for supplies near the hotel earlier. They came back with four other survivors who appeared to be bitten".

"What? Why the fuck would they do that? Did you get rid of them?" Sinamoi asked, suddenly more alert than he had been a moment before.

"Calm down and let me finish. The reason they brought them here was because some voice on the hotel's intercom system said that the four bitten were immune to the infection, and if they were brought to safety they would be able to help everyone on the island escape from this hell. Our survivors didn't entirely believe the guy on the intercom and decided to test their luck in getting to the Lifeguard station after dropping the four off here" James said.

"Damn it James you should have stopped them, I doubt they made it to the station alive" Sinamoi said with a touch of anger in his voice.

"I couldn't exactly force them to stay here if they didn't want to. It's what they thought was best, whether or not they suffer for their choice is up to fate" James said grimly.

I didn't think it was possible to be immune to this shit. I sensed a bit of hostility between Sinamoi and James and decided to change the subject. "Where are the four who are immune?" I asked James.

He turned to look at me and said "In the back resting. Like I said they were pretty roughed up when they were brought here and deserve some rest. You guys look like you've been to hell and back as well. I take it Sinamoi filled you in on his plan, if so then you guys should also get some rest while you can. Taking out those monsters won't be easy.

"Sounds heavenly. Think I'll just sit right here on the wall and close my eyes a bit" I said as I leaned on the boarded up window. There's a difference between being knocked silly and actually taking the time to rest your body. John and Michael took up similar positions around the room as Sinamoi and James started making preparations for our raid on the Lifeguard station. As I was listening to them talk about what weapons we should bring, I started drifting into the sweet embrace of sleep. I was too battered to really reflect on the events of the past few hours, I felt that the less I thought about it, the less likely I was to go batshit insane and bash my head into a wall to save me the pain of living.

As I fell deeper into the abyss of sleep, my scattered thoughts drifted towards my wife. Did she know what was happening on the island right now? In our haste to escape, none of us had thought to phone home and tell anyone what was happening. We had packed our cell phones, but from the moment we left our damn room we had been on the run. There was also the fact that we had fallen into water not once but twice, so the circuits were probably fried anyway. All things considered, things were much better than they were when we woke up this morning. I was sure that once we got to the Lifeguard station and made sure it was safe things would start looking up for us.

I was vaguely aware of someone yelling as a hand punched through the boarded window and dragged me back into hell.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five: Revelation**

**Author's note: I edited a part of the previous chapter so a part of this chapter makes sense. It's the initial meeting between the group and Sinamoi.**

I've been in my share of fights before, haven't always won but I haven't always lost either. I've been punched, kicked, and beaten with some object or another, but somehow I always came out OK. I always kept calm even while getting my ass handed to me because I took solace in the fact that the person I was up against was just like me, probably pissed off at the world and had too many drinks that night. Granted that's no excuse for randomly decking a guy in a bar, but I could relate to their feelings to some degree or another.

But this, this was a whole new ball game.

These monsters had no feelings to relate to, so I had no idea how far they were willing to go to get what they want. Considering how one just punched through a fucking wall of wood to drag me out into the open, nothing was off limits.

In the few seconds it took for me to actually be thrown backwards, I saw quite a bit. I saw each splinter of wood flying around me, the surprised and terrified look on everyone's faces along with a good view of the ugly mug whose hand was nearly tearing my head off. As my amazing luck would have it, the guy was about six and a half feet tall with muscle to spare. Turns out decomposing flesh and such has no effect on your physical strength.

All things considered I was able to land pretty gracefully, as in I did a backflip and landed on my face. By the time I looked up The Incredible Hulk was already rushing towards me. With no time to properly react I flipped the guy the bird and told him to go fuck himself. It seems it had been awhile, as in a few hours or so, since the universe had thrown a curveball at me so I guess it decided it was time for another one.

The Rock actually stopped in his tracks, cocked his head at me and started laughing. He flipped ME the bird and continued to laugh.

"Next thing I know you'll tell me to go fuck myself right?" I asked him, not really expecting an answer.

"Yup"

"Yeah that's what I…thought? Holy fuck…" I swore since the only place that could have come was from Chuck Norris standing in front of me. "How is an undead Adonis able to speak when he barely even has a mouth let alone half his damn body?"

"Can't really answer something I don't know the answer to, and to be honest I'm not really complaining" he said, albeit slowly since you know he's missing HALF HIS FUCKING FACE. "I got into a fight with one of those things, got bit and eventually turned into this. My head seems clearer than before, not so many things going on at once. I don't need to sleep, and since half my body is decomposed I can shit or piss anytime and anywhere I damn well please".

"That cloud with the silver lining I guess" I said. Even terrified or dumbfounded out of my mind, I'm still pretty witty if I do say so myself.

"The only thing I want is to feed. On what doesn't matter, be it human flesh or something like this piece of wood" he said as he picked up one of the slabs of wood that had come free after yanking me through the wall. He placed it in his mouth and continued to take an unhealthy massive bite from it. He chewed for a bit and swallowed. "Of course, flesh seems to taste better than most" he said with the most disgusting grin ever.

Speaking of wood, Sinamoi had crept up behind Kratos with his own slab. When he was close enough, he hefted it behind him and took the biggest swing I have ever seen anyone take. Seriously if a regular person had been hit with even half the force of that, they would have been searching for their teeth for a year.

Even under the best of circumstances this was no regular person. The slab of wood smashed across his face and practically disintegrated. He didn't even bat an eye (if he still had an eyelid to begin with) as he swung his arm around and smashed it into Sinamoi. The sheer look of shock on his face might have been comical if he hadn't gone flying in a straight line back towards the shack. He hit the wall with enough force to rattle my teeth. Bob the Bodybuilder continued his swing and went back to his original position, as if he didn't just send a two hundred pound man flying into a wall.

"Some people these days, they act as if they can just do whatever they please and be able to get away with it. Speaking of which…" he trailed off as he resumed his previous rush towards me. I was a bit taken aback at the sudden change of pace, and even more so when a gunshot sounded and he just toppled over like he wasn't about to rip me limb from limb.

I looked over the massive bear in front of me to see James standing at the shack's doorway, holding Sinamoi's revolver with the barrel still smoking. As glad as I was that he had the aim of God and just saved my life, I couldn't resist the urge.

"What the fuck took you so damn long!? Did you expect me to ask him to dinner and get his number while you all took your sweet damn time? Could have had his pants off with him bent over my knee by the time it took you to pick up the damn gun let alone shoot it! Jesus fucking Christ man I love you!" I finished. Can't say all of my tirades end up that way, but this was a special occasion as you can tell.

"I'm a straight man myself, but if that's how you roll I won't judge" James said as he hefted Sinamoi up and checked for a pulse. He looked at me and nodded to let me know he was still alive. I don't really know Sinamoi from a stranger on the street, but he seemed like a good enough person and I was glad he hadn't died for my sake. I made my way back to the shack and helped James lift Sinamoi onto one of the couches. John and Michael cleared the way and helped lift him up. After that was done, they searched me head to toe to see if I was bitten, which sort of baffled me.

"If anyone had been paying any damn attention while I was chatting the man beast up, you would have seen he came nowhere near me. Oh but of course I'm sure you all had pressing matters to attend to, like maybe painting these fine walls? I hear they have a new special going on; if you sit and watch the paint long enough it will actually, wait for it…dry! HOLY SHIT!"

Proper tirade etiquette: insert as much sarcasm as humanly possible.

"Uhh…yeah…sorry" both John and Michael mumbled. Although I wasn't expecting either of them to don a cape and suit with an S on the chest and come to my rescue, I was slightly peeved that they hadn't really done anything at all.

"Sorry to interrupt your lovers quarrel, but can someone get me some aspirin? It feels like my skull was yanked out of my ass and put back into place through my mouth" Sinamoi grumbled as he hefted himself into a sitting position.

"If I didn't know how tough of a bastard you were I would have dug your grave and buried you up to the neck by now" James said with a grin as he came back from the bathroom with a bottle of aspirin.

"It's going to take more than an oversized bear to take me out, although he came pretty damn close. I know I'm still seeing a few stars and a unicorn or eight, but were you actually _talking _to that big fuck?" Sinamoi asked me.

"Considering how we were partying the day away at the hotel yesterday only to wake up in the middle of the apocalypse today, nothing really surprises me much at this point." I said. Sinamoi and James were looking at me as if I had grown a second head. "What?"

"I can't imagine why you would leave a place that lets you party the day away." James said slowly.

"Well when it's overrun by a thousand zombies practically overnight it's actually pretty easy to ditch the place" I said.

"Something isn't adding up here. You said were partying at the hotel yesterday?" Sinamoi asked.

"Yeah. We figured we would let loose a bit before going back home" John spoke up.

"Not really one of our best decisions, but seeing all those native women dancing was certainly a bonus" Michael added.

"What the fuck are you guys going on about? The entire _island _has been overrun for a damn near week now! There are no survivors inside the hotel anymore." James said.

I couldn't really wrap my head around this bit of information. "As sure as I am that you could probably put me on my ass in three seconds flat, this is not the time to fuck with me James" I told him with a pretty damn serious face.

"Kid this is no joke, we have been fighting the undead for a week now, but at this point it feels like an eternity" James said grimly. I had no real reason to not believe him, he didn't seem like the lying type and he did just save my life.

"The day James tells a lie like that for shits and giggles is the day pigs fly and unicorns fart rainbows" Sinamoi said as he gulped down half the bottle of aspirin. "I thought I noticed something off about your story when we met, but it didn't seem at the time like you were hiding something, and I was too focused on our plan to really give it any further thought. This is our world now. It might seem a little overdue for you guys, but Welcome to Hell."

" Screw me sideways" Michael said slowly as he sat down with his head in his hands.

John couldn't really put it much better than that and just slumped down onto the floor.

"This can't be possible. How in the world could we have just slept through the end of the world for a week? I wake up when I hear a damn spider crawling on the wall, how would I miss people getting torn apart in the halls?" I was pretty hysterical at this point and was almost screaming. I knew that a loud enough noise could attract more zombies, so I was trying really hard not to scream bloody murder.

"Kid if I had all the answers we wouldn't even be having this conversation, I would be sitting on some other tropical island sipping margaritas and getting a lap dance" James said as he took up a position at the hole I was yanked through earlier. "With you making all that noise, wouldn't be a surprised if another one decided to test his luck against us." He explained and started keeping watch.

"If we are so late to the party, what were those other four survivors doing in the hotel as well? It sounds like they were found not too long after we made our escape" I asked, somewhat saner than I had been a moment ago.

"There is nothing to explain, they haven't been conscious since we got back. If we survive clearing the station out, ask them when we get back" James said from over his shoulder.

"Luke, I really don't know what happened to you three, but the plan is still a go. We certainly can't stay here for much longer with that damn hole in the wall. We are all exposed, and we still have those four in the back. Between them and keeping watch, shit can get out of control real fast. We need to go to the Lifeguard Station sooner rather than later. You have an hour to get your stuff together, it will be dark soon and you really don't want to be outside when that happens. James will go with you since he knows his way around; I'm going to hang back here to keep an eye on things. If you feel up to it, John or Michael I need one of you to stay here with me. Just in case" Sinamoi said, looking at the two of them.

Whenever a debate of some kind arises, and it seems life or death matters have no effect on them, John and Michael always play rock paper scissors. John picked rock while Michael picked scissors, so it looked like Michael was the one staying while John risked his neck with me and James.

"Alright, now that that's settled, get your gear together guys, the sooner you can leave the better" Sinamoi said as he tossed us our backpacks. We still had our essentials from before, but the main thing we were lacking was proper weapons. "The closet door behind me has our weapons, provided the group from before didn't take everything. I'm going to lie down for a bit" he said as he laid back down onto the couch. John went over to the closet mentioned and opened it. Never thought such mundane weapons could look so beautiful. There were baseball bats, scavenged oars, knives of all sizes, crowbars, hammers, and even a gun or two.

"Holy crap!" John and I said together.

"When the world goes to hell, you better prepare real fast or die real quick. Take your pick; those guns don't have many bullets though. If you decide to take them, use them only when you need to, we learned the hard way that those fucks can hear from miles away and will be on you the moment you pull the trigger. Guess we got pretty lucky with the two shots from before since we are still talking." Sinamoi said from the couch.

"Is that a katana? Whew boy are we in for some fun times" I said. Not sure why, but I always had a thing for swords. John reached further inside and took hold of a freaking sledgehammer. He tested its weight and decided it would do. We both grabbed a few smaller knives better suited for combat and replaced them with the ones we took from the hotel. I grabbed another revolver and checked the chambers. It only had two shots left, which was better than nothing.

James turned around and handed Sinamoi's revolver to Michael. While he checked the chambers James grabbed a metal baseball bat from the closet along with his own set of knives.

"Michael was it?" James asked as Michael nodded. "Your turn to keep watch, I would advise you not to use that gun unless you really need to. Take a few weapons from the closet if you want, but unless directly confronted DO NOT fight any battle that you can avoid. They may not look like much, but those monsters can be stronger than an ox as you saw before. If they so much as scratch you, it's over. Let Sinamoi rest up a bit, then wake him up so he can check up on the other four. Any questions?"

"No sir" Michael said as he took up his position at the wall.

"Then lets hit the road, we aren't getting any younger. I'll be waiting outside for you two" James said and disappeared.

"Michael…" I began, but he held up his hand to stop me.

"Save it for when you get back. I don't plan on being the only one getting back home, so you better be damn sure I'm taking you guys with me"

That was the closest thing to a pep talk we were probably going to get from anyone. Oddly enough it did the trick. After shaking hands, John and I stepped outside to join James.

I've been told multiple times that I should have a more positive view on life. On a normal day I would peg our chances of survival around fifty fifty. During the apocalypse where the dead walk about with the ability of speech, ten percent seems about right. And that's without being honest with myself.

"Off we go" John said as we made our way across the beach towards the Lifeguard Station.

Yeah, off we go. Straight into hell.


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter six: Heartbeat**

"I'm pretty sure I threw Rock" John said.

"And I'm pretty sure you threw Scissors but changed to Rock once you saw my Rock" I explained.

If you hadn't guessed already, we were playing the infamous Rock Paper Scissors to pass the time. We were traveling for about an hour across the beach, encountering little to no zombies whatsoever, when we came upon a set of unbelievably high steps. Since the geography of Banoi is primarily mountains and forests, the people had no option other than to build on the actual mountains themselves in some areas; but regardless the never ending steps in front of us seemed ridiculous.

Hence our little game.

"Will you two shut up? It's hard enough to hear these sneaky bastards as is without you two twisting each other's panties about who threw rock or scissors" James said angrily.

"A little fun never hurt nobody" John drawled.

"When the dead rise up to come chomp your ass off because you were too busy making hand signs don't come crying to me" James said as he stalked ahead of us. Needless to say that quieted the both of us. We hadn't forgotten about the situation at hand, but we had gotten careless.

Which is the perfect way to die in this cruel new world of ours. Then again, it's not as new as we think it is.

"Hey James" I said as I caught up with him on the steps. "Do you have any idea how the hell we slept through all of this? It just doesn't seem possible".

"Not a clue. My first guess would be that someone roofied the hell out of your drinks, but that would only last a day or two at best. You guys were out for a whole damn week. I honestly have no idea".

"Figures, and I guess the lumberjack on steroids back there was the first one you guys saw that could talk right?" I asked. A short recap, I nearly got my clock cleaned by three hundred pounds of dead but still incredibly strong muscle, and after kindly telling him to go fuck himself, he told me the same thing.

Last time I checked, the dead didn't talk, but then again they didn't try to eat your face off either so who am I to say. My fashionably late friend James here put a bullet in the guy's head before he clobbered me. After recuperating, we gathered our gear and set out to clear the Lifeguard Station in order to have a safer base of operations.

"Never saw one of them either" James said. "I hadn't even seen one of them that big and strong before let alone one that could talk. Shit just keeps getting stranger and stranger these days."

"Guess getting strange in this case isn't such a good thing is it?" John asked. Perv.

"We are almost there, keep your wits about you" James said as he slowed his pace a little and crouched down. We did the same.

We were coming upon a large metal gate. The way ahead of us looked clear so we scrambled our way up the last set of steps and reached the gate. The station was just on the other side, and from the looks of it the outside was deserted. The gate itself was locked from the other side by some kind of code.

"Give me a boost, I know the passcode to unlock the gate" James said. John put his hands together and hefted him over the gate. He landed on the other side and put the code in. The gate beeped and started moving sideways, once it was done John and I walked on through. There was an open garage right in front of us and it looked empty for the most part.

"So is it just me, or does this seem a little too easy for us?" I asked. Yup, there's always that one guy.

"Luke I swear to God do not jinx us" John warned.

Too late. We started hearing moans coming from the garage but we still could not see anything. The light was beginning to fade faster and faster the closer it got to nighttime. We needed to speed things up. James held a finger to his lips and motioned for us to move closer to the garage. John gave me a death stare as we moved closer. From our new viewpoint, we could see the garage itself was empty, but there was door leading into another room that was slightly opened. The closer we got to the door, the louder the moans got.

James pointed at John to stay outside and keep watch, and then pointed at me to follow him through the door. We nodded our agreement and I slipped inside with James. We entered a hallway that led to one main room with a bunch of side rooms attached to it. It was difficult to see clearly as the only light was the one at the end of the hall. Most of the side rooms were closed off, and we checked all the open ones before going further ahead.

We were finally getting to the room at the end of the hall, which is where the moans seemed to be originating from. We checked the corners before entering the room only to see that the place was covered in blood. The walls had lines of blood, as if someone had traced their fingers with it. I swear I saw a smiley face or two. Multiple bodies were strewn across the floor, and the moaning was coming from a girl in the center.

"Holy shit I think she's alive" I whispered to James. He nodded and crept up on the girl. He was only a few feet away when he nearly tripped as he recognized her.

"Of fuck it's Jen!" he said as he quickly dropped to the ground and cradled her head. She seemed to have taken a knife or something to her gut and blood was just pouring out of her. She didn't even seem to realize that James was holding her until he said her name several times. She opened her eyes and stared at him for a moment.

"Run…" was all she said before dying in James' arms.

It was then that we heard the gunshot. It sounded like it had been silenced by something, but it came from right outside. A second later John sprinted through the hallway with two people following him. Once he reached us, he hefted his sledgehammer and took a one hundred and eighty degree swing. The first guy ducked just in time to avoid it, but the second took the blow full on. His head snapped sideways and he cartwheeled into the room, flopping onto the floor like a ragdoll.

The guy who had ducked jumped back up and smashed a bat into John's stomach. He toppled over in pain, and just as the guy was about to finish him off I rushed him with my sword drawn. As he changed the course of his swing to deflect my sword, I noticed that the bat was made of wood. Our weapons connected, and my sword was lodged into the bat. He flung the sword behind him and was getting ready to hit a homerun on my head when James threw me backwards. Our attacker was thrown off balance by the sudden empty space, which James took advantage of. He had taken out one of his knives, and as the guy was getting ready for another swing James swung first and lobbed off one of his hands. Before the guy could even scream in pain, James buried his knife in the guy's neck, cutting off any and all sounds.

He slumped to the floor, making a gurgling sound as blood poured out of his neck. After a minute the sound stopped, signaling his death. James just stood there, not even seeming to register that he had just butchered a guy to death. I didn't think he even cared; it seemed he was more occupied with Jen's death than anything else. He walked back over to her and sat down.

"They all died. These were the people who brought those other four survivors back. The ones who wanted to test their luck. Seems it ran out pretty quick, but not for the reasons we were thinking of" he said sadly. He looked at the wall next to him and saw a smiley face painted in blood. "Shit hits the fan in the worst possible way and people suddenly have the balls to kill for fun. The fucking bastards."

I wasn't sure what to say. I didn't know James well enough to know how to comfort him, and I had no idea who Jen was to him. Saying the wrong thing could set him off, so instead I decided to help John who still hadn't gotten up. I walked over to him and kicked his leg. He moaned a bit but otherwise seemed ok.

"You having fun down there big boy?" I asked

"Oodles of fun. Nothing like getting a bat to the stomach to end the day" he grunted.

Taking his sarcasm as a sign of good health I decided to help him to his feet. I reached down to give him a hand.

Just as a sword went through my chest from behind.

There was a third person.

And he had stabbed me with my own sword no less.

I entered an extreme state of awareness, where time slowed to a crawl and I could analyze each and every thing around me.

I looked down to see John gaping at the sword through my chest, as my blood began to slowly drip onto his pants. I looked up to see James already half way across the room, knife at the ready. Finally, I looked down at the sword coming out of my chest, as if really seeing it for the first time.

I felt no pain, which I might have considered odd if I hadn't noticed two other things.

The first was that my blood wasn't red, it was completely black. Maybe it was the stress of the whole sword in my chest thing, but I just couldn't seem to comprehend as to why that was.

The second thing, which I hadn't really noticed before, and of which I was sure John and Michael hadn't noticed either, something so automatic that you never really notice until you put your hand against your chest.

My heart wasn't beating.

Before blacking out, I came to a final realization.

It hasn't beaten once since we woke up in the hotel.

My heart had stopped beating but I had continued to live.

What the fuck?


End file.
